Caisson vs Comp AI
Comp AI is an open-source GRC platform you run. Caisson is an Apache-2.0 library that implements the controls a platform inspects. Both are dev-owned: here is the honest line.
Which should you use?
This is the closest philosophical comparable, and the honest distinction is platform vs library. Comp AI is an open-source (AGPLv3) GRC platform: self-hostable on Bun and Postgres, with 580+ integrations and AI agents that automate evidence collection and continuous monitoring across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR. Caisson is an Apache-2.0 infrastructure library you compose into your app: fail-closed Postgres RLS with isolation tests, a WORM + hash-chained audit trail, per-tenant field encryption, and OSCAL evidence packs: the controls a platform like Comp AI inspects. Comp AI is the compliance program you run; Caisson is the controls in the app it watches.
What Comp AI is
Open-source compliance automation platform (GRC). Facts below were read from www.trycomp.ai on 2026-07-07.
- An open-source, AI-native GRC platform (github.com/trycompai/comp), self-hostable on Node 20+, Bun 1.1.36+, and PostgreSQL 15+ (verified 2026-07-07).
- 580+ integrations with AI agents that automate evidence collection, policy generation, and continuous monitoring across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, and FedRAMP; advertises 830+ companies.
- 1:1 Slack support with in-house experts and a live Trust Center to share compliance status with prospects.
- Self-host has no license fee; the platform is AGPLv3 (copyleft), and managed cloud is a commercial, quote-based subscription.
An honest comparison
Where Comp AI has a capability, it is marked. Caisson is the compliance and tenant-isolation substrate; Comp AI wins the rows it wins.
| Detail | Caisson | Comp AI |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous stack/cloud monitoring + automated evidence collection | from your own app code | |
| Runs the audit workflow (evidence-for-auditor, questionnaires) | — | |
| Hosted Trust Center for prospects | — | |
| Form factor | Library you compose into your app | Platform you deploy |
| Open-source license | Apache-2.0 base (permissive) | AGPLv3 (copyleft) |
| Fail-closed Postgres RLS + automated cross-tenant isolation tests | — | |
| WORM evidence store + append-only hash-chained audit trail | — | |
| SOC 2 / HIPAA / EU AI Act evidence packs + OSCAL export | — | |
| Per-tenant field encryption (envelope, per-tenant key) | — |
What Comp AI is genuinely better at
A comparison that only flatters one side isn't worth reading. Here is what this kit does well.
Comp AI is a real, capable compliance platform whose code is open and self-hostable at no license fee: AI agents, 580+ integrations, continuous monitoring, and a Trust Center. For a team that wants to run its own dev-owned compliance program, that is a strong, honest offering Caisson does not replicate.
Evidence collection, policy generation, continuous monitoring, and expert Slack support cover the whole compliance program. That operational breadth (running the audit workflow) is not what an infrastructure library does.
Where Caisson draws the line
The compliance and tenant-isolation substrate a launch kit leaves to you.
Comp AI is a platform you deploy to monitor your stack and collect evidence; Caisson is a library you compose into the app itself: fail-closed RLS with isolation tests, a hash-chained audit trail, WORM storage, and an evidence-pack generator. It is the code the platform inspects, not a second platform.
Both are open-source, but the licenses differ where it matters: Caisson's Base is Apache-2.0 (permissive, no copyleft obligation on your product), while Comp AI's platform is AGPLv3, which requires open-sourcing a network-deployed derivative. For a commercial SaaS, that distinction is worth a legal read.
Which should you pick?
You want to run your own open-source, self-hosted GRC platform (monitoring, evidence collection, and a Trust Center) and are comfortable with the AGPLv3 obligation.
You want the implemented controls (RLS with isolation tests, a WORM audit trail, and OSCAL evidence) as an Apache-2.0 library composed into your app, one-time and owned.
Self-host Comp AI to run the program and use Caisson to implement the controls in your app: a fully dev-owned stack where Caisson emits the evidence Comp AI monitors and presents.
One-time, own the source.
Caisson is a one-time perpetual license — the price never recurs, and it includes 12 months of updates from your purchase date, renewable per entitlement afterward at 40% of list per year. The Base substrate is Apache-2.0; the compliance modules are commercial.
Compliance bundle
$1,649, one-time. Fail-closed RLS, WORM, the audit chain, evidence packs, and the framework and signing carves — the whole substrate this comparison is about.
À la carte
Take a single module from $49 — audit-worm, field-crypto, or compliance-core on their own, onto your existing Postgres app.
Everything bundle
$2,259 covers every bundle and every à-la-carte module, plus the open base, in one purchase.
Common questions.
Is Caisson a Comp AI alternative?
Both are open-source. What's the licensing difference?
Does Caisson monitor my stack like Comp AI?
Ship the compliant backend.
Explore the Compliance bundle, browse every module in the marketplace, or read another comparison.